With a history of over 200 years, Bombay Dockyard is one of the largest of its kind in Asia. There are mentions about ship building activities at the Bombay Dockyard, now known as Naval Dockyard, dating back to 1671. However, the foundations of the modern naval dockyard were established in 1735. The ships made at Bombay Dockyard were among the finest in the world and sailed around the globe.
The pride of the warships built at Bombay Dockyard is HMS Trincomalee built in 1817. It is the world’s oldest ship afloat. The ship is now permanently berthed in Hartlepool in UK. With the advent of the industrial revolution and the introduction of steel as the primary ship-building material, the function of the dockyard changed in 1884 from ship-building to ship repair and maintenance for the Navy.
The yard pays utmost attention to quality of work. All the work centers of the yard are certified for Quality Management Systems. At present, there are 102 Quality Circles in the dockyard. The yard has participated in national and international Quality Circle conventions.
Safety and environment are given prime importance in the dockyard. The personnel are regularly trained in safety aspects and resort to safe work practices in the demanding conditions onboard. The dockyard is the first among defense organizations to obtain ISO 14001 certification for environment management system in fourteen work centers. The yard also boasts of vermiculture project, rainwater harvesting and waste water recycling plants.
The Naval Civilian Housing Colony at Powai is a plastic-free green colony with model management and amenities. The yard has won numerous awards for its contribution to safety and environment management. In addition, the dockyard houses many heritage buildings among which Bombay Castle is prominent. The dockyard has won Urban Heritage Award from the Mumbai Heritage Society in 2001 for excellent maintenance of Heritage buildings.
Thus to conclude, the Bombay Dockyard gives one more reason for India to be a proud spot on the map of the water-world!
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